19 year old Suzuki, 126 miles on the clock.

[jaybkay]

A helpful car driver turned across in front of my son, and he hit the passenger door with enough force to bend the frame of a 2006 Suzuki GN250. Whilst the insurance is sorted out I've bought another GN250 - 1989 with 126 miles on the clock. Apart from some markings on the aluminium the bike appears to be untouched - however do I risk the 19 year old tyres? There is certainly no cracks or perishing, but will they grip OK in wet and dry?

Son is desperate to be mobile again, and I can (fairly easily) fit the tyres from the newer bike. However these are Chinese and whilst perfectly legal I'm not convinced they are much better.

[untruth]

No, don't risk them, either of them. Old tyres really lose a lot of integrity.

Edited by untruth on Tuesday 3rd February 22:40

[Rawwr]

Christ, I'd bin tyres if they hadn't been used for a year, let alone 19 :|

[Biker's Nemesis]

Depends on how the bike was stored.

Use a bit of common sense and have a good visual look at them,.

[Wacky Racer]

Change them.....not worth the risk.......

Glad your son is OK btw......

[jagdpanther]

John will know more than me about the integrity of degrading rubber of the years, but personally, I would replace them ASAP

[Biker's Nemesis]

Right, can anyone explain why you should replace them if the sidewalls don't have cracks or splits in them?

[jagdpanther]

Biker's Nemesis said:

Right, can anyone explain why you should replace them if the sidewalls don't have cracks or splits in them?

for me it would be nothing more than peace of mind fella, same reason why I changed the tyres on the BM

[Hooli]

Biker's Nemesis said:

Right, can anyone explain why you should replace them if the sidewalls don't have cracks or splits in them?

i thought the rubber degraded/dried out & changed so it offered less grip & doesnt flex as designed to do so?

its just what ive heard online, no proof of it.


EDIT: that old & that few miles i'd be keeping a very close eye on the seals & gaskets too i bet they've all gone hard.

Edited by Hooli on Wednesday 4th February 08:06

[Regional]

Heat kills rubber, if it has been stored properly and they dont have any visual signs of degradation then i'd ride it personally.
Leaving a bike outside will make the tyres go through constant heat cycles from the sun, it's the oils in the rubber that break down and cause the tyre to "dry out".
If they have gone hard then they have gone through too many heat cycles, bin them.

[daver777]

from dunlop...
http://www.dunloptyrecentre.co.uk/a/pdf/storage.pd...


Tyres should be stored in a cool place, away from direct sunlight or strong
artificial light. Both heat and light are sources of oxidation of the tyre surface.
The oxidation is characterised by a "crazed" or "alligatored" surface, which
does not penetrate the rubber deeply. The severity of the oxidation is, of
course, a time and temperature dependent variable. Long term storage at
ambient temperatures has been equated to short term storage at elevated
temperatures. For instance, three days storage at 70 degrees centigrade
causes approximately the same loss in tensile strength as three years storage
at 24 degrees centigrade. Oxidation may cause sufficient damage to the
inside of an un-mounted tyre as to cause early tube failure or a slow leak.

in short, change the tyres.

edited to add link to reference.

Edited by daver777 on Wednesday 4th February 08:50

[Regional]

Interesting read that, thanks for posting it

[rev-erend]

Old tyres tend to go hard with age .. and seem to not wear out .. also do not grip either.

One bike difference in the last 20 years has been that the tyres now grip like they never did 20 years ago ..

20 years back - every wet manhole cover was a lethal obsticle and to be avoided .. now the tyres do not slip.

Change the tyres - he's already had one accident. Which is 1 too many.

[Hyperion]

I would definitely replace them...if not for the fact that age could have hardened them, but tyre technology has come a long way in 20 years - they're a lot better than they used to be.

[robminiman]

just spin the tyer upa couple of time to take the top of on the rear wheel as for the front not sure

[podman]

Daver is right, i wanted some old second hand Michelin TRX tyres for my car (there circa £250 each new)and contacted Michelin's technical dept for advice, they advised me after 5 years AT BEST tyres have lost approx 25% of their out right grip performance , I could use them but they advised against it, the tyres I was looking at where 10 years old and I was told under no circumstances to fit them..

Sounds a nice find anyway..

[Stu R]

They'll be as good as new, only 120 odd miles on them! However, I did just read a very interesting report about certain tyres cracking with prolonged storage, oils found in the tyres diminish and so on. So because it's been stored for quite some time and the likelyhood of this happening seeming quite high, get yourself a rag and give them a once over with a dab of WD40 just to put the oils back in.